Laravel Framework: Best PHP Framework for 2015

When I was going to start working on PHP projects, I have so many framework in my mind, but ultimately I choose Laravel framework for moving ahead with my project and the reason that compelled me to do so was it helps me in developing my website in simple and clean code.

As a PHP developer, you might choose the PHP framework depending on its reliability, stability, extensions and support and Laravel has it all. Designed for the latest version of the PHP Framework, Laravel is regarded as an extremely interactive and easy syntax for developing web application development, which is designed especially to make the website development easier. For a PHP developer, if there is a framework that can help them in writing better codes in less time, then it is definitely the Laravel framework, which includes all the fundamental development elements for offering developers a highly expressive interface to work with.

What makes Laravel leads over other PHP Frameworks?

Fairly easy to get started, Laravel is a framework that will definitely make the PHP developers fall in love with it as soon as they start working on it. Loaded with all necessary capabilities and features, Laravel has the ability to fold well with the browsers and search engines to offer comprehensive views.

Few benefits that help in making Laravel stood apart from other PHP framework are listed as follows:

The templates of Laravel frameworks are designed with simple webpage layout with sections.

It is integrated with authorization library.

Laravel comes incorporated with widgets such as JS and CSS with solid structures.

Supported with auto complete feature, it has Object Oriented libraries, which is not found in other popular PHP frameworks like CodeIgniter.

New features of Laravel framework

1. “Form Request” Feature- For Creating Contact Forms

Form Request is an advanced feature of Laravel 5 that serves as the base for processing and validating form data for creating simple contact forms with functional fields that includes Your Name, Your Email Address, and Your Message. Whenever Form requests are made, this feature automatically calls the validate method for generating the contact form as requested along with the mandatory fields.

Here is how the contact form will appear on your website:

2. Artisan Scheduler

A brand new feature of Laravel 5 framework, the Artisan scheduler is designed for simplifying the tasks that needs to be scheduled. For using this feature, set up one cron job that calls the code, “php artisan schedule:run” to run it every minute.

You can schedule the tasks once your cron is set up. It saves you from the problem of remembering cron scheduling and is very efficient to use.
An example showing a fictional task of clearing the cache every hour is shown here:

3. Route Filters

If you want to continue using the Route Façade in Laravel 5 framework, then use the latest Route Filters feature that you can use to copy the filter bindings from app/filters.php and keep them in the boot() method of app\Providers\RouteSserviceProvider.php.

Moreover, you have the liberty to add use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route in the app\Providers\RouteServiceProvider.php. Besides, there is no need of moving over the Laravel 4.0 default filters like csrf and auth; a they are present here as middleware and hence, you can efficiently edit the controllers or any routes and can also modify them for referencing to the new middleware.

4. New Eloquent Model

The new Laravel 5.0 is blessed with the New Eloquent Model feature using which you can create a new app/models directory for keeping your Eloquent Models and then you can integrate this directory with the classmap directive of your composer.json file.

Moreover, there is no need of offering the remember method for caching queries but you can manually cache your queries using the Cach::remember function.

What considerations to take while choosing Laravel?

When you are new to Laravel, this is the first question that must pop up in your mind as to what considerations you should look for while choosing Laravel among other popular PHP frameworks? Apart from this question, you might have several other questions related with knowing the authenticity and reliability of this PHP framework like:

Are big brands considering Laravel for their website development?

Are there any latest statistics representing Laravel performing better than other PHP frameworks?

Is it worth investing in Laravel and how secure is it to use?

Will Laravel continue its significance in the coming year as well?

Just like when we purchase a car or any other accessories and examine every details before making payment, similarly choosing the best PHP framework requires getting relevant answers of these queries mentioned above to know if it is worthwhile to invest in Laravel or not. Hence, I have collected some important facts about this framework to help the developers make up their mind before starting to work on this latest PHP framework.

What makes Laravel stood apart from other PHP frameworks- A brief comparison

This question does not mean to start the framework war, but it needs a genuine explanation to understand how using Laravel can benefit the developers. I will explain this same situation taking an example of two laptop brands. Suppose that you are given to compare between a Sony Vaio laptop and a Dell laptop. Both are very popular brands of laptop and hundreds of engineers have put their best skills to design these laptops for the customers.

Both are tested and reliable brands and one cannot judge them simply on the set of features carried by both laptops because everyone has different set of requirements for features. Some features might be more relevant to me but not for you and vice versa. However, choosing frameworks is also the same case because all other popular PHP frameworks are also created to suit the needs of varied PHP developers, however the choice for Laravel framework over other frameworks is simply due to the fact that it is not only a logical and easily coded framework, but it is also attaining popularity over the last year. Therefore, the best way to compare between the different frameworks with Laravel is to try out to check which one of them suits your requirements perfectly.

Here is the chart that shows that rising trend of Laravel and other popular PHP frameworks in past few years:

From the above chart, it is clear that Laravel is steadily rising to popularity that shows that opting for this latest PHP framework will definitely help the developers in creating websites within one of the most simple and clean coded environment. Other important factor for making a clear comparison between the frameworks is the availability of learning resources for the developers.

Laravel on the one side is rapidly growing its community resources through packages, blogs, screencasts, books and more.

Now, when I have explained you about the rising trend of Laravel among other PHP frameworks, the other vital factor to focus is whether it is worth investing in this framework.

Is Laravel a worthy investment or not?

It is certainly worth investing in Laravel framework if you are not using any framework for developing PHP projects. The efficiency of the projects developed on Laravel increases three fold times and the bundle of features integrated with this framework makes the coding of website or applications much cleaner and easier for the developers as well.

The impressive features of Laravel like Eloquent ORM, Routing, Templating, and Sessions make the creation of applications constant and enjoyable from project to project.

After learning about the worthiness of Laravel framework, the next key step is to evaluate if this framework offers security as per the developers’ expectations.

Security of Laravel- Key Point of Concern

Here are few points that show the level of security offered by Laravel framework:

Laravel uses salted and hashed passwords, which means that the user’s password is not saved in database in plain text but it uses Bcrypt hashing algorithm for creating encrypted representation of a password.

Laravel offers an easier way for escaping the user input for avoiding user injection of <script> tags.

The community of Laravel is quite responsive when it comes to reporting bugs related with the security of the framework.

Laravel uses the already created SQL statements for making the injection attacks impracticable.

At the end, when you have read about the various benefits, comparison and security of this latest PHP framework, you must be willing to give a try to this new framework. If so, you can contact our team of PHP developer, who hold significance skills and experience in helping you come out with a great PHP website built on Laravel framework.

Manmeet singh is a SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER with TIS India Business Consultants Pvt. Ltd. since the last 6 Years. He is a programming geek who spends most of his time developing web applications , enhancing user experiences and creating usable softwares. He has helped many overseas clients come out of the project management nightmares by comprehensive requirement analysis and ensuring timely delivery of projects. Follow him on Google Plus and Linkedin here.